The invention has been developed primarily for use in mounting cladding boards to the external walls of buildings. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular use and, for example, is equally suited to mounting cladding boards to the internal walls or surfaces of buildings or other like structures.
Hitherto, known cladding board mounting systems have relied upon embedded fasteners, front fixing fasteners or adhesives to mount cladding boards to walls. Each of these systems has disadvantages.
For example, embedded fasteners such as captive nuts or wire hooks are difficult and costly to produce and are inflexible in their application. Also, complicated engaging and mating assemblies are required to be attached to the surface on which the board is mounted.
Front fixing fasteners generally comprise screws inserted through the cladding board and into wooden or metal battens previously attached to the building. The major disadvantage of this system is that the exposed surface of the cladding board must be re-finished in order to hide the screw heads and give a uniform and attractive external appearance. This re-finishing is both time consuming and costly, especially where the cladding boards are mounted to multi-story buildings, as it must be performed in-situ. Moreover, several types of cladding board have outer decorative surfaces which cannot be easily or economically re-finished, if at all.
Adhesive cladding board systems avoid the re-finishing problems described above but are expensive to install due to the specialised adhesives required. Moreover, the adhesives have been prone to failure over time and falling cladding boards constitute a significant safety hazard.
The present applicant has attempted to overcome some of these difficulties by providing a new cladding board mounting system which is subject of International patent application No. PCT/AU96/00828.
This system has been at least partially successful in overcoming some of the difficulties of the prior art, however, it has also highlighted certain problems.
In the cladding board system subject of the abovementioned International patent application, V-shaped grooves are formed in the cladding board to receive complimentary shaped mounting strips. These mounting strips are releasably held in the grooves and protrude from the rear surface of the board for connection to the wall to be clad. These strips, however, make the board difficult to stack and can be damaged or cause damage to the board during storage or transport. Further, the grooves formed in the board for receiving the mounting strips can weaken the board and lead to damage as the board flexes in use or during transportation and installation.
Further, the various grooves in the cladding board must align with each other precisely. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, quite apart from aesthetic considerations, uneven loading or positioning of the cladding board can lead to various structural difficulties.
It is an object of the present invention to ameliorate one or more of these deficiencies of the prior art or at least provide a commercial alternative to the prior art cladding systems.